Reflections on the Turkish Sell

Istanbul, Turkey

-Written by Sarah in Copenhagen, Denmark

Since my family is in the retail industry, I have always been exposed to the art of selling. Everyone has their own definition of 'customer service' and everyone has their own style or flair. The luxury goods industry is very tricky.

That said, I have never ever ever ever experienced anything like theTurkish approach. When Andy and I were in Turkey there was never a day when we walked down the street without someone offering to show us a carpet. We got used to this pretty quickly; we actually came to expect it. Right away we learned not to think of it as annoying (although it was) but as creative and amusing. I can't begin to understand the energy it must take to try and sell carpets in Istanbul. To be successful, you have to be charming. You should also be funny and if you occassionally know what you are talking about when it comes to your product, that doesn't hurt either. I think that Andy would agree when I say that the single best line was, "Sir, a carpet for her dowry?!?" We both stopped, turned, laughed and commended him for his efforts.

But it takes more than just one-liners to win us over. On our first night in Turkey we met Joseph (though we didn't know his name then). We went to buy water and as we passed his brother's store he asked if we wanted to be his last customers of the night. We said, "No, thanks." When he asked if we wanted to be his first customers the next day, Andy said that we would be by at 6am. Joseph was surprised and without missing a beat said, "Sir, no I am sorry. I will be looking at my dreams at that time." The next night we walked by again. Andy yelled to him, "Wherewere you at 6am?" The friendship was born. We walked by Joseph every night and on our last night (even when we weren't feeling our best) we sat with him on his camel bag (carpeted double pillow) and drank cherry tea. We were his guests. We talked about how he was on holiday from school (he's 18) and how he lives in Van... eastern Turkey near the Iraqi and Perisan borders... and about his religious beliefs and the political situation between the Turkish and Kurdish people. The conversation was very interesting and in the end, it worked. We were so fond of Joseph, a purchase was actually made. I don't know if it's because he called me *Pavlova* (because I'm "so sweet" he said)or if it was because of the cherry tea or the hookah. And I don't know if he was setting us up for a purchase (I don't want to believe that) but I don't really care. The two hours spent with Joseph, his cousin Selim, and the 16 year old who worked at the nearby restaurant, Hakan, were really fun.

Oddly though, not everyone who is a salesman in Turkey wants to sell their products. One guy at the Grand Bazaar wanted to talk about the NBA; he didn't care if we even looked at his pashminas. But maybe that was a tactic too, in the end, because he was apathetic to our spending, I wanted buy something from him (I didn't though).

So, everyone has their thing. Some we will remember and some we have already forgotten. Bottomline is that if you want to sell carpets inTurkey you better get creative.